Best Varminter Rifles / Calibers

[Eagle eyes 17]

Everyone that has been thinking about or has already purchased a great Varmint Rifle has a specific reason for which one they will choose or have chosen, what is yours and why ....

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

I chose the Savage 110 Desert Tactical Rifle in a 6mm Creedmoor

 

[AZShooter]

My favorite walk around varmint rifle is a 7 1/2 lb sporter in 6mm-284 shooting 55 gr nosler ballistic tips @ 4100 fps. You can get similar results with a 243 just a bit slower.

Advantage? I shoot coyotes and jackrabbits with the occasional "rock rat". Usually there is little time to range the animal then figure out the compensation with stadia or turrets. The bullet has a very flat trajectory for the 4000 ft elevation I hunt:

+.5" @ 100
+.7" @ 150
+.2" @ 200
-1" @ 250
-3" @ 300
-5.8 @ 350

Pretty much point and shoot for the range I encounter these animals.

As for barrel life? I could care less as I use Rem 243 takeoffs and rechamber them myself.

Here is the rifle which has a Z6 Swaro 2.5-15 x 44 on it now.

 

[B23]

I kinda have a varmint gun obsession and I'm not sure I've ever met one I didn't like, so I don't think I could ever label one "best". BUT, of those that I have or have had, if I could only keep/pick one, I'd probably go with my 6-284.

If I had to make this choice based on shooting factory ammo, I'd probably pick a 22-250, 22 Creedmoor, or 6mm Creedmoor.

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

When I first got my Rifle I took it to the Range and I started off with Hornadys
' Varmint Express ' 87gr. V-MAX Ammo.
Rated 3,210fps at Muzzle.
Then I got everything I needed to try to duplicate this bullet so this is the load that I came up with:
- 87gr. - V-MAX
- 43gr. - Superformance
- 3,200fps. - 0.400 B.C.
- W.L.R. - Primer
- Hornady Case
- 2.650" - C.O.L.

 

[redhammer911]

22-250 great varmint caliber and good factory ammo if you don't reload...

 

[Eagle eyes 17]

When I started out on this quest I was set on looking in the direction of a .223, .243 or a 25-06 , with a lot of great options for the .243, but a friend that works at the LGS kept steering me towards the
6mm Creed.
My - it has to have's - were :
#1. 26" Heavy threaded Barrel,
#2. Adjustable Trigger,
#3. Solid Bolt Action
#4. Customizable

 

[YZ-80]

Well, for a stalking Verminter it's probably my vintage Wby., Varmintmaster in .22-250 because it's so beautiful, points well, and I get such a nostalgic buzz hunting with it because it probably came out of the Howa aresenal when I was on a Big Wheel.

Long Range? Probably my Cooper Jackson Game Rifle in .25-06 with a 90 grain Blitzking off a Harris Bipod. Anyone who has one of these knows that they are tanks (10 lbs.+ scoped) so they are not sporter weight by any stretch of the imagination. That's why I repurposed mine as a varminiter.

 

[Braunschweiger]

6.5 Grendel if going in AR platform.

 

[elf]

I have a Cooper 21 in 6mmBR and two 22-250's, Rem and Savage. The Rem shoots lights out. I made a custom walk around varmint gun with Sako action, 221 Rem caliber, birds eye maple stock and Leup scope. Gunsmith had a blank on hand, with 14 twist but manufacturer not marked or known. Great light weight 6.5 lb gun.

 

[Gary in MD]

Right now, my favorite is a Cooper Jackson Game that I special ordered.
I've been lugging fat barreled heavy rifles around since around 1980 and I decided that a lighter rifle that was still accurate enough for the job was in order. The cartridge? The "king of varmint cartridges" the 220 Swift.
Gary

 

[KyCarl]

I have a 22-250 from Wheeler Accuracy that's a Hummer! With a 8 twist barrel
it works with 70-75 Gr.bullets very well.
Curtis Custom Axiom with coated bolt
Krieger Remington varmint 8 twist, finished at 23 inches, chambered in 22-250
McMillan Remington Varmint stock, pillar bedded with pic rail, no sling studs or flush cups
8 tactical flutes done by PPR
HS Precision DBM with 1 magazine
Trigger is a CG X-Treme Mod22 2 stage
Barreled action cerekoted in stone grey
Stock is a grey, white and black marble
barrel is not threaded

 

[ducky]

This is my favorite varmint rifle, it started life as a Stevens 200 in .223 that I paid $195 for. It was the first Savage rifle I cut my teeth on doing barrel swaps. This rifle launches 70 grain NBT at nearly 3100 fps from it's small case and I've used it on everything from prairie dogs to pronghorn.







1:12 twist #3 contour 20" Sin Arms barrel 6X47 Rem (6-222 Rem Mag) finished in KG Gunkote
Sharpshooter Supply competition trigger, bolt handle, and stainless recoil lug.
Leupold VXII 4-12X40 AO

 

[hunter67wa]

Holy heck, well I have a fast twist 22-250 for long range small critters its a single shot.

For walking I have a 223ai repeater for small critters including deer and lopes.

And my newest and has become my most favorite for small game is a 20 Vartag which is cheap to shoot and running all above suppressed. The funniest thing with the 20vt is it sounds like a 22 magnum. All you hear is crack pffffffffffft pop and Pdogs come apart.